The present invention relates to a sleeve apparatus for hydraulically locking a hollow cylinder body such as a lathe cylinder body to, and unlocking the cylinder body from, a cylindrical shaft such as a lathe spindle and the like.
A lathe cylinder body includes an axially extending passage through which a lathe spindle passes, allowing the body to circumscribe and releasably lock onto the exterior of the spindle. The lathe cylinder body is configured to hold various lathe tools such as cutting blades, chip limiting segments, and the like.
Prior art methods and apparatus available for locking cutting devices on spindles include, among others, the following two types. One type involves the use of set screws which are threaded radially through the cutting devices to contact the spindle. One problem with this is that the set screws tend to deform the spindle and the cutting device resulting in the cutting device not being properly centered. Furthermore, the set screws are not always set to a consistent degree of tightness from one use to the next, resulting in inconsistent locking forces and deformation between uses.
A second type of locking approach relies upon the use of a relatively large collar disposed within the cutting device hollow and about the lathe spindle. The collar defines an annular hollow which circumscribes the lathe spindle and in which grease is injected by a high-pressure grease gun to provide a type of hydraulic lock. Some disadvantages associated with this approach include (1) the requirement of a high pressure grease gun, (2) the difficulty in preventing or removing air bubbles from the grease, and (3) the difficulty of confining the grease to the annular channel. Moreover, the grease oftentimes squirts about uncontrollably and makes a mess when the pressure is released, and the collar occupies a relatively large area and has strict tolerance requirements.